Breakdown of Þetta er fágætt eintak af gömlu bókinni.
þetta
this
vera
to be
bókin
the book
gamall
old
af
of (in quantity expressions)
fágætur
rare
eintakið
the copy (instance, specimen)
Questions & Answers about Þetta er fágætt eintak af gömlu bókinni.
Since the current lesson is about vera til (to exist), why do we just use er here instead of er til?
Vera til specifically means to exist or to be available (for example, if you were asking if a copy of the book exists anywhere). In this sentence, we are simply identifying an object right in front of us, so we use the standard linking verb vera on its own.
Why does the adjective fágætt end in -tt?
It has to agree with the noun it describes, eintak (copy), which is a neuter noun in the nominative case. The dictionary form of the adjective is fágætur (masculine), and the strong neuter form adds the -tt.
Why do we say af gömlu bókinni instead of af gamalli bók?
The preposition af always forces the following words into the dative case. Because we are talking about the old book, we use the definite noun bókinni. When an adjective comes before a definite noun, it must use its weak declension. The weak dative feminine form of gamall is gömlu. If we were talking about an old book (indefinite), we would use the strong form: af gamalli bók.
If bók is a feminine noun, why does the sentence start with the neuter pronoun Þetta?
First, þetta technically refers to the neuter noun eintak (copy) here, not the book itself. However, even if it referred directly to the book, Icelandic always uses the neuter þetta (this) or það (that) when introducing something using the format This is... or That is..., regardless of the noun's actual gender.
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